Schiit Fulla 2 AIO DAC/Headamp Quick Impressions and Review

Discussion in 'Portable and Other Gear Measurements' started by purr1n, Jun 29, 2017.

  1. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    I have the fulla 2, the mojo, the modi 2 MB and the jotunheim plus three HD6** variants.

    Get the damn Modi 2 MB and magni 3
     
  2. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    Trust da man.
    ZD’s alias is actually Dr Synergy.
    he loaned me Saga, Vidar and Code-X and that chain amazes me to this day.
     
  3. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    I almost forgot: mod the headphones, too
     
  4. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Alright, alright I'll head toward the Schiit stack then, thanks!! :bow:

    As far as the mods go, I'll get there I'm sure, but one step at a time - all this headphone hi-fi stuff is new to me (other than all the great stuff I've read on this site of course), but looking forward to the rabbit hole.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2018
  5. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    I just received a Fulla 2. I like it. I've been listening to The Rolling Stones "Exile on Main Street" this morning.
    The Fulla doesn't seem like much of a downgrade from a Magni 3/Modi 2, but I listen at pretty low volume at work so the lower power output is just fine. My only quibble is that sometimes if I unplug/replug my headphones into it, I also have to unplug/replug the power cable or my smartphone doesn't recognize the connection and wants to play the sound through the internal speaker. Not a huge issue.

    The biggest thing I've realized is how bad the headphone output sucks on my Moto phone. Even with KSC-75s the improvements with the Fulla are pretty noticeable. Through the phone headphone output, the sound is sort of a congealed FM radio kinda thing. With Fulla things sound right again.

    Low level channel balance seems like it was a little better with the Magni 3, but not a big deal.
     
  6. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Quick question: does anyone else feel that variable out seems to rob the presentation of dynamic slam somewhat? Seems to be the case even with volume matched to reasonable tolerances by both ears and EARS.

    Another one: the variable out on the Fulla 2 I have here seems to have stopped working. Generally I wouldn't mind but it renders the HP-3 more or less unusable with the Liquid Carbon without digital volume control for an assortment of reasons:
    • the headphones are super efficient
    • the LC has some minor channel imbalance up to around noonish I want to get past
    • I have to set volume down at least 20dB which makes things sound all mushy and odd with windows mixer, and
    • I kinda prefer the presentation on 3x gain— it just feels less lean in the bottom end and has better sense of swing and liveliness.
    Not really gonna complain, but I am wondering what I might have to look into to get this sorted. For now, back to Senn HD600s it is with Klipsches out of my mobile.
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2020
  7. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

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    Variable out goes through the opamp stage so it is affected by that, and as an owner I would say the fixed output DAC is the best sounding part of the Fulla 2, the amp stage needs external power to sound decent and not glary.
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2020
  8. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    Sigh, part of me wondering if it's about time I picked up a soldering iron for the first time in... over a decade to try and fix the opamp, if that's what died.

    Also, thanks for the tip re: external power, I'd actually not gotten around to trying that out yet for whatever reason. Probably laziness. Less glare would be grand though, esp. considering all the headphones I have on hand (HD600/HP-3/PS500e) don't lend themselves to brighter gear, haha.
     

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